


Past, Present and Future

by musesmistress



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesmistress/pseuds/musesmistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How things change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Teyla Emmagan

**Author's Note:**

> Hits of relationships between John & Elizabeth, Ronon & OFC, Teyla & Lorne and Rodney & Katie Brown

**Past - Age 15**

Teyla sprinted across the village square to her parent's tent, it had been three hours since she was last here and in that time the Wraith had attacked. She looked quickly around before darting further into the room and snatching up the bow and arrow and turning back to leave.

At 15, she was required to go on all the hunting trips with those in her class, the lesson today had been interrupted within the first hour as the humming of the Wraith's darts had flown extremely close. Halling, their teacher had seized her arm quickly preventing her from taking off back to their home in order to help her people.

Still too young to command the settlement, she had been included by her parents to take part in everything. Helping during an attack, with cleanup after the attack and even the construction of new buildings. She'd even been taught to set the camp fire at day break despite her constant protest at being woken so early.

Halling had moved them closer to the settlement as the attack had progressed and during the time she had argued extensively about needing to help and even employed the tactic of him needing to protect his wife and year old baby. It hadn't worked.

The closer they had come, the more noise reached their ears and Teyla had found herself becoming increasingly distressed by it. She should be doing something, not hiding in the bush waiting for it to pass; she should be out there fighting, purging her home of the horror that plagued them.

The screams of babies, the desperate cries of mothers who couldn't locate their children and the horrible nightmare creating, screech of the transport beam.

Standing on the edge of the forest, she had caught sight of her mother moments before she darted around the side of a house and moments later a dart had played its beam in that location.

Now, with the bow and arrow in her hand, that even in the back of her mind she knew were worthless, she ran as fast as she could to the side of the building.

"Mother," she called, as she stepped along the side of the house, "mother," she tried again and took the corner to stand behind it. Instead of finding the tall dark skinned woman who had birthed her, she found a Wraith.

She approached cautiously, seeing him still moving if only slightly for the time being. When she was standing close enough, she looked down at him and he glanced back at her before breaking into a hideous grin.

"Your mother," he said taking a deep and pain filled breath, "was my last meal," he took another sharp breath. "I enjoyed the taste of her," he said baring his teeth to her, "and the child she carried."

Shock rushed through her, but she kept her face carefully blank. He continued to watch her drawing hard and shaky breath after another. Slowly and without thinking too much about it, Teyla reached up behind her and slid an arrow from the pack on her back.

"They took her from me," he said and Teyla's eyes darted down to the stab wound in his stomach and the several other cuts and stab points that lined his torso, "before I could finish her."

She knocked the arrow into the string and pulled it back with all her strength listening instead to the words in her head instead of the words of the Wraith as he continued.

 _"I prey, my child, that you will never have to kill anyone, even a Wraith,"_ her father had once told her. _"But if you have to, if you have to draw your knife or nock an arrow, then make sure you remember this,"_ she aimed the arrow at the Wraith still talking below her and tightened the muscles in her arm to pull it back more, _"the eyes are the window to every creatures soul, if you can look it in the eye and see that it has done wrong, then it deserves to have its soul destroyed."_

She took a deep breath and looked the fallen Wraith in the eye; she could see the glint there, the sign of fresh feeding; the satisfaction of having captured his pray and started to draw its life.

"For my lost brothers and sisters," she breathed before releasing the arrow and watching as it struck perfectly on target.

She sunk to the ground beside it, her eyes drawn to the ground in front of her and settling on the handle of the blade used to injure the monster at her side. She picked it up and examined it, it wasn't her mother blade.

"And my people," she breathed before standing up and moving back towards the centre of the village.

She stepped into the clearing and looked around the remains of another attack. She dropped her bow and arrows to the ground by the tent and moved across the way to a child who sat on her knees facing the still glowing fire.

"Where is your mother, Mayin?" she asked the small girl.

"I do not know," she said quietly and Teyla watched the tear that slid down her delicate face. "This was my first attack," she said, "I do not remember any others."

"Wait here," Teyla said just as quietly, "I will send the other children to sit with you."

She stood again and moved around the small settlement. She passed men and women who were righting their homes, mothers or father searching for their offspring and spouses. She asked each of them to gather by the fire and take anyone they passed with them. 

It would be easier for families to find each other if they were all in one place. Something she remembered her grandmother telling her when she was very small, she had lost one small object in amongst several similar ones and had been frantically picking random ones out to find hers. As a result, they had been scattered across the floor and she had still not found her own item.

"Mallas," she heard Halling call as she came back to the fire now surrounded by people. "Mallas," he called again darting in between groups of people. "Has anyone seen my wife and son?"

To Teyla's left someone called to him, the woman held a small boy in her arms, but she was not the mother of this boy.

"Jinto," he cried in slight relief before he looked up at the woman who had been holding him, "where is Malla?"

"Halling," Teyla said carefully saving the old woman from having to find an answer. She held out the handle she had been carrying to show him. "I found this beside a dying Wraith," he said he had fed on her before the others had taken her."

She watched as Halling crumbled and Charin hastened to capture the child in his arms. She could almost feel his pain as he began to shudder and cry for the loose of her and Teyla momentarily wondered if it would be a wise idea to tell him she had been with child.

Deciding against it and watching as Jinto reached for his father, she took the few steps to him and dropped to her knees in front of the hunched and large man.

"I am sorry, Halling," she said, "I should have left the Wraith for you to kill, but I was looking for my mother," she placed her hands on his shoulder and her forehead against his before adding. "Jinto needs you now."

Unexpectedly he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a close hug. It took her a moment to take this in, no one in the village was brave enough to show affection towards Teyla in this fashion, being their leader's daughter people kept a professional distance from her. It was something she had always hated, but nonetheless something needed to be kept.

"Your father was fed on before my eyes," he whispered and she could hear the pain in his voice knowing only too well he did not wish to tell her this, "his body is in front of my tent."

It was a shock to hear it, but it for some reason it wasn't her biggest concern. Instead of having the wonderings about her mother that she should have had, or the thoughts about attending his location and offering a prey to the ancestors, she found herself more concerned with the rest of the villagers.

Fifteen was not the age to take her place as the leader of these people. For generations the village had passed to the new leader when they had reached 20. By this time, they reasoned, she would be mature enough to handle it and her parents to old to effectively run from the Wraith when they attacked.

But it seemed now, that she had no choice. There was no one else in her family who could step in for the few years it would take her to reach age of maturity and it would not be proper for anyone in the village to take that place.

Teyla Emmagan, Daughter of Tagan had just aged five years in one small Wraith attack.

There was no time anymore for petty squabbles, childhood dreams and hopes of a future where the Wraith didn't exist. She had a whole village of lost and afraid people to care for.

~~**~~**~~

**Present - Age 27**

No matter how much she thought about it there was no denying that Atlantis was much easier to deal with than her whole village back on Athos had been. For a start, she wasn't the highest person in the city. That honour fell to Elizabeth Weir, and even with all the support she could offer the woman, she wouldn't like to have as much power and control that her friend had.

When she had first let her people leave for the main land and taken a position in John Sheppard team, it had been frightening, she hadn't known these people, yet she trusted them without question.

Today, however, it was a blessing not to have to talk to her people and listen to their apologies about her parent's loss at such a young age. She herself had spent years since the day apologising to others, like Jinto, who didn't even remember the day only that it had some significance in their lives.

Only one person in the city of Atlantis knew about this day's significance to her and several of her people. Five people had been lost that day, which was a new low for them, but still it had made a considerable dent in their already depleted population.

Luckily, she would have something more entertaining to occupy her thoughts today. She had been tasked with training the civilian population, or at least a portion of it, Ronon had taken the other half. Together they would make sure that every non-military member of the expedition was able to defend themselves without a weapon.

She smiled at Elizabeth as she stopped outside the gym and watched as she walked with a slight bounce in her step towards her.

"Good morning," she said brightly and Teyla raised an eyebrow at the mix of emotion on her face, they were the complete opposite of the bounce in her step and cheer in her voice. "I'm not good at that am I?" she asked with embarrassment look around.

Teyla shook her head and opened the door to the gym and motioned for Elizabeth to enter first. She followed her into the room and sealed the door, leaving it unlocked would only add to the discomfort Elizabeth was obviously struggling to conceal. This, she reasoned, was why John had put her on Teyla's list instead of Ronon's. That and with Teyla she could get a private session whereas Ronon would simply add her to a large group where she would not only be uncomfortable with having to fight, but feel stupid about it too.

They got ready quickly and Teyla started by teaching her stretches that she would have to do before each session. It surprised her slightly to find that Elizabeth Weir, leader of Atlantis and diplomat was more flexible than she expected.

It was also a surprise to see her figure and muscles. Elizabeth was dressed in a pair of lose pants that showed nothing of her legs, but rested off her hips comfortably and a tight top, making Teyla think that the uniforms the expedition members wore were more unflattering than she previously thought.

Testing her new leader, Teyla took to a difficult stretch which Elizabeth managed just as gracefully.

"Have you done this before?" she asked with a quirked brow.

"I used to dance," she said honestly copying Teyla into another difficult position, "when I was eight," she said and Teyla chuckled at that declaration. "I do Yoga at whatever time I get up and again at whatever time I can get away from the control room."

"Yoga?" Teyla questioned. Even after three years there were things about these people that she would never understand.

"I'll show you some time," she said with a smile.

"I would like that," she offered manoeuvring into another position before straightening up to start their session. She opened her mouth to give the first instruction but found herself cut off by the speaker announcing an unauthorised gate activation.

Elizabeth grabbed her uniform top and pulled it on quickly before following Teyla from the room. They walked quickly to the control room and Teyla stood back as the woman took control.

"Major?" Elizabeth said over the radio and Teyla leaned back against the consol behind her.

"Sorry to interrupt your morning exercise," he said knowing only too well she had training today. The comment made Teyla smile for a moment before Elizabeth turned to give her a look. She was quick to set her face in order and not smirk at her before he continued, "but I thought that some members of Colonel Sheppard's team might want to see this obelisk in the town centre."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, it's a monument to the people who died in a great plague ten years ago," he said, "one of the names on the list is Kylipa Emmagen."

Silence fell over the room and Teyla could feel all the eyes on her. She saw none of them, only managing to focus on the name Major Lorne had told them. It was her mother's name. She pulled back to reality as the major continued.

"There are a few other Athosian names on the list. They're all together under a section headed "Wraith refugees". I thought perhaps Teyla might want to see who's on it and let their families they escaped the Wraith."

"Even if it was to die from a plague," Teyla heard the voice of one of the others faintly in the background and hung her head. It wasn't well known to the people of the city, but there were a few who knew that to die for any reason other than Wraith feeding was a blessing.

At the very least, Teyla wanted to go to the planet, list all of those who had been lost over the years and return to hold a ceremony to honour them.

Beside her Elizabeth had spoken to Major Lorne and ended the transmission. She didn't notice this until Elizabeth hand came to rest on her arm and she looked up to find not only Elizabeth's sympathetic face, but John and Ronon's too.

"John," Elizabeth said, "why don't you and Teyla go meet with Major Lorne check this list out and we'll go from there."

"Sure," he said and turned to leave. Teyla hesitated for a moment searching her friends face before she turned and followed them.

*

She kept her head low; the voice of the young woman across the way from her was piecing her heart. Mayin had only been a child barely four years old when the Wraith had taken both her parents and she stood now at 16 the prettiest of the Athosian girls and with the voice of an angle.

This song was a prey, one of great trust to the ancestors and a plea that they would find and protect the lost souls of their friends and family. It was far from the usual song they sang when one of their own died naturally, but this was ten years too late for that.

Major Lorne stood to her left, his head bowed just as low, he had asked specifically if he could be here for this and she thanked him for it. Back on the planet he had hesitantly pointed out the name of her mother on the black stone obelisk that stood in the middle of a small town. He had also been the first to react when she had hung her head in an attempt to hide her tears.

She felt their sting in her eyes again, something she did not give into easily on most days and would have thought against them again today, had it not been for the small sob that escaped her lips and the Major's hand on her arm.

Across the way from her, behind Mayin, stood the remainder of the Athosian village, all the people who had survived the last twelve years and moved to Atlantis. Their number was small, but almost twice that of three years previous when John Sheppard had stumbled onto their world and brought them back to the city of the ancestors.

To her left, beyond Evan Lorne, was tall piece of wood, fashioned and framed by the scientists on Atlantis in honour of the ceremony. Halling and Jinto and several other teenage boys from the village had spent hours the previous day carving the names of all those lost to the plague on one side, and all those lost to the Wraith on the other.

It was those on this side of the structure that they honoured now, those who had missed their true ceremony; those who had been for whatever reason, unable to return home after their rescue.

On her other side, were all her new friends, Elizabeth and John had been stunned when she had asked them to attend, and had shown in their best for the occasion. John and all the military she had invited stood in their dress blues, and Elizabeth in a sleek black Athosian dress she had been gifted with for her birthday in their first year.

The song finished and Teyla lifted her head to fire in the middle of the gathering. Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered the goodbye she had been denied when she was less than Mayin's age.

"Your heart has returned home with father now," she breathed before allowing Evan to lead her from the ring.

~~**~~**~~

**Future - Age 38**

Dinner with Evan Lorne had always been delightful, for the past few years their relationship had sparked and Teyla had gone from finding him a great conversationalist to wishing she could spend more time with him than was currently available.

Their current leader, unfortunately not Elizabeth, had been attempting to keep anyone away from someone they enjoyed spending time with. He was pure military and even John found himself stuck with proper military procedure Elizabeth had let drop.

But for some reason, he disliked her relationship with Evan, granted he showed similar venom towards Ronon dating his assistant, but he’d always put more effort into stopping them. Evan himself had suggested it was because he was military.

“A distraction, on a mission I could stop and think about you and get myself killed,” he had tried to explain as they lay in bed one night shortly after the man’s arrival. She couldn’t truly understand, she had long ago realised there was something about the Earth members she would never understand.

Now however was not a good time to reflect on the bad administration of Atlantis. Dinner had finished over an hour ago and since then Teyla had been perched on the railing of the balcony while Evan painted her. Painting was something new to her as well, he’d tried to teach her the art, but that had turned into a very messy and playful experience.

A rumbling interrupted her musing and she turned, hopping off the railing to look up at the bubbling cloud that broke through the atmosphere. The Deadalus was back and with it came a new leader.

Curiously they made their way to the gate room, Evan took several attempts to wipe a smudge of black paint onto her arm but she dodged him.

A crowd had gathered and Teyla fought her way through the murmuring members. She hadn’t quite reached the front when the transport beam light indicated the arrival of the leader and return of John and Ronon.

Without giving Teyla a moment to push to the front a roar of applause went up and several of the expedition whistled. Carson, who she realised, had been standing just in front of him moved as she exchanged a look with Evan and she turned back to see Elizabeth in a hug with the doctor.

As they parted Teyla moved in and engulfed her, she’d never though the woman would return and it was a much welcomed thing. The rush of emotion kept her in place for several long moments and she looked up to find the current leader watching the group from the conference balcony.

She grinned, unable to stop herself as she raised her hand from Elizabeth’s back and gave him a little wave. She pulled back from Elizabeth slightly and whispered in her ear.

"Thank the ancestors."


	2. John Sheppard

**Past - Age 18**

"Nora, go to bed."

"No," his eight year old sister stood sulking in the corner of the room watching him with eyes that clearly said "make me".

"Nora, it's almost ten, go to bed."

"I wanna watch the movie," she said innocently. "Dad said I could watch the movie."

"If he had said that, he would have said it to me, now go to bed."

"No," she shouted and John once again wondered why he always got stuck looking after her when their parents went out.

What had they been thinking, having a second child 10 years after the first? John had been comfortable in his time, the only child, not spoilt he just knew how to manipulate his parents. Then they had told him shortly after his tenth birthday that he was going to have a brother or sister. It hadn't changed much to start with, he just ignored it.

Then he'd been left behind when his mum had been rushed to the hospital that faithful day. They had forgotten him momentarily in favour of the new baby. His cousin had shown up half an hour later and taken him to the hospital, even though he didn't want to go, and just over an hour after that, he was pushed into her room and introduced to Nora.

He had looked at her once, then turned and left the room.

Nora grinned at him now as he crossed the room and seized her around the waist and slung her over his shoulder. Her laughter rang out through the room and he tickled at her bare feet as he moved through the hallway and up the stairs.

"No, stop," she cried out kicking wildly as he carried on, using the hand across her back that held her in place to start tickling at her side. It had taken him three years of ignoring her to realise she was something special. The problem he had when their parents went out, was that he had been too playful with her and therefore had no authority on what she did and didn't do.

He pushed her door open and dropped her haphazardly onto the bed and moved to open the window, the cooling air filled the room instantly.

"I will rent this movie for you in a few days time when I get my first pay check from the air force and we can sit together and watch it, okay?"

"Why can't I just watch it now?"

"Because silly little sisters need to get smart people sleep," he told her. It was something he had said long ago when she'd asked why he always over slept "because it makes me smarter". He had laughed when she said "doesn't school do that?"

He opened his mouth to add a comment to the declaration and was interrupted by the door bell. He pushed Nora back on the bed, quickly kissed her cheek and left the room.

Before he'd even reached the bottom of the stairs the flashing blue lights of the police car outside met his eyes. He could see two police office standing waiting on the step and his brow creased in confusion.

"John Sheppard?" one of them asked as he opened the door.

"Yes," he said and heard Nora's playful "they've come to arrest you" from the top of the stairs.

"Can we come in for a moment, sir?"

"Sir?" he thought, no one had ever called him "sir". He was a fresh recruit for the air force and there was definitely no one there who called him that. He stepped aside and indicated the sitting room where he and Nora had just been. They stepped in and past him and he gave a quick look up the stairs in time to see Nora's face vanish back around the corner.

The short walk to the sitting room seemed to take an eternity, there was no reason for the police to be here, he'd done nothing wrong and Nora was far too young. Which only left his parents and for the life of him, he couldn't imagine them doing something stupid or illegal.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news, Mr Sheppard," one of them said while the other stopped to look at the range of family photos on the side by the door. "There's been an accident; a truck ran into the side of your parent's vehicle…"

John's felt his brain shut down, heard punctuated words from what the officer was saying. "Asleep" and "rammed" but nothing really seemed to sink in for a few moments. When he finally reached the sentence "they died at the scene" John snapped back to reality, but it wasn't his words that punctured his thoughts. It was the small, fearful and hurt "Johnny" that came from Nora.

He didn't argue with her, didn't order her back upstairs or to bed. He simply held his hand out to her and let her into the room. She gripped his hand tightly with one hand while the other held a death grip on his sleeve. The officer still standing in front of him was asking him a question, but he couldn't take in the words he spoke.

His parents were gone, both of them, there was no one left in their family but him and Nora. And worst of all, she was now completely his responsibility.

John didn't realise he'd moved, hadn't noticed that the other officer who had stepped into the room was now in the kitchen and the tell tale sound of the kettle clicking suggested he was making a drink. He dropped heavily onto the sofa and pulled Nora close to him, her tears were instantly on his shirt soaking through to send a cold shiver down his spine.

He didn't hate Nora, he couldn't for the life of him remember a time when he had, but according to his parents there had been such a place for that feeling in his past. John always tried to provide for her, when dad came home with loads of sweets and gave them something each, John would always give her some of his. When their mum would read her a bedtime story and stop before she was ready to sleep, he would always step in without her knowledge and read until she was gone.

But this was something completely different. He was 18 and a fresh cadet in the air force, he wanted to learn as many air craft as possible and climb the ranks to General. How was he meant to do that with a sister 10 years his junior?

She couldn't take care of herself, couldn't possibly get her own food or get up and get to school on time. But how could he do this and his training? The other policeman returned and offered John a cup of tea, which he took without realising what it was.

The police stayed for almost an hour until John had managed to answer their questions. Nora had cried herself to sleep in that time and as he settled her into bed he wondered what would be the best course to take for her. Instantly he knew he didn't want to give her up, wasn't sure he could bring himself to push her through the foster system.

There were no other family members he could turn to, he had no living aunts, uncles, or cousins or even grandparents now that could take her in and he could pay them to look after her. He did know that he couldn't afford to rent an apartment for them, and he doubted very much that the air force would let her stay on base with him. His choices were limited.

The surprise came the next morning, when a lawyer showed at the door to offer his condolences and then instantly went into a spew about what his parents had written in their will in case something happened to them. The house was theirs, to live in or sell which ever they wanted to do and in the event that one or both of them had been unable to care for themselves, there were contact details of one relative.

John sat staring at the address. This relative he'd never heard of was a distant cousin and in this case, distant not only meant deep relations, but distance in space.

"Who's that?" Nora asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes, he'd let her sleep through the morning while he made several important phone calls.

"A cousin of ours," he offered.

"Where's England?"

"A long way away," he said letting his eyes drift to the telephone number before he turned to her. "Nora," he said and licked his lips. "I can't take care of you."

"You can't leave me," she said understanding him quicker than he liked. "I don't want to be a foster."

"I wouldn't do that to you," he said wrapping his arm around her, "but we need to work out what we're doing. Maybe we should meet this cousin of ours, see if she's willing to take you in. And I'll sell this house and put all the money into an account for you so when you turn eighteen you get to do what you want with it."

"You're gonna put me with strangers?"

"No," he said shifting her into his lap, "we'll spend some time with them, get to know them first. It's just that I want to stay in the air force, learn how to use lots of different planes and helicopters. Which means I'll be travelling around. I can't take you with me, they won't let me and it wouldn't be fair on you."

"I won't mind," she offered tightening her grip on him. "I can learn from you, you're smart."

"Let’s look at all the options together, okay?" John placed a careful kiss on her cheek and pulled her close.

~*~

**Present - Age 37**

John jogged along the corridor and paused outside Elizabeth's room. He didn't stop jogging and after ringing the chime he moved a few steps forward before returning to the door and jogging a few steps back. He couldn't really explain why he had so much energy today, but it was there all the same.

"John," Elizabeth said forcing him to turn around in his place a few steps away from the door.

"You interrupted my morning jog."

"I'm sorry," she said walking back into her room and leaving the door open for him. "But I got the list of personnel that's on the Deadalus, thought we could go over them early instead of last minute like we usually do."

He stepped into the room and looked around. It wasn't the first time he'd been in her private room, but it always surprised him that it was always so sparsely decorated compared to her office. Today seemed to be her untidy day as there were various articles of clothing lying around on the chairs.

He picked up a t-shirt to place it on another pile and found a piece of underwear underneath it. Before he could think what to do Elizabeth snatched the garment up, took the t-shirt from him and turned to gather up some more items.

"I've been too busy to clean up, haven't even made it to the laundry room for a while."

"I know the feeling; I'm starting to run out of pants," he offered as he dropped into the chair. "Good thing the machines here don't take too long."

She gave a weak laugh at the thought and picked up her tablet PC before taking a seat next to him. He looked around again and realised that her dirty laundry had been placed in a single pile on the bed.

"So," she said, "as I said last time, this is the busy one."

"Double our teams," he said, "double our efforts."

"That's the one."

It was true, for the last couple of months the IOA and SGC had been pushing them to get more out of the database and their research. In response to the last couple, Elizabeth started demanding more personnel. Which they were now getting.

Their three off-world teams was about to take a leap up to seven, internal security was jumping from 15 people to 38 and their research, command and science teams were hopping the personnel list to 120. To top it off they were getting seven new doctors, 18 new nurses, five psychiatrists and Elizabeth was gaining a personal assistant.

"How exactly are we going to find rooms for over 130 people?" John asked scanning the names of the medical team.

"This is a big city, there must be 132 rooms somewhere," Elizabeth said giving him a grin and raised brow. "I was thinking that we could restructure, put some people in the main tower, those who need to be near the infirmary and control room for example, then split the rest into the nearest two towers.'

"All that wonderful energy I had for jogging... I think I left it at the d..."

John stopped mid sentence, while Elizabeth had been telling him her idea he had switched over to the science and research lists and now stopped at one name in particular.

"John," Elizabeth tried to catch his attention, he knew she'd been talking the whole time he stared at the name, but he couldn't turn away from it. At the end of the list of top level researchers, those commanding their own team was a name he never expected to see again, let alone heading for Atlantis.

"Nora," he breathed.

"Nora Wells," she said, "do you know her?" he couldn't bring himself to respond. "John? Nora's going to be my personal assistant, is there something I need to know?"

He could hear the clicking from her tablet as she searched for a file and opened it. Before she spoke again he knew she'd opened Nora's file and was browsing it.

"Twenty-seven years old, raised in England by her cousin, graduated with honours, has been in a Personal Assistant job since, was found by our talent scouts by accident when he called to talk to an old friend."

John set his palm computer down on the side and leaned forward in his chair. He could feel her eyes on him, could practically sense the look of curiosity she was giving him. But he couldn't keep it a secret; he didn't know how Nora would react of him now.

"She's my sister."

"Nora Wells?" she said lingering on her last name.

"Nora Maria Wells," he said watching out the corner of his eye as she checked the file. "Born November 19, 1980," he took a deep breath before adding. "Adopted July 8, 1989 by Penny Wells."

Silence followed and he knew she had verified the details. He had never forgotten them, the day she had been born, the day their parents died, the day they visited Penny and the horrible memory of the day he'd left her with the woman. It had been agreed, he needed to get his career going and he couldn't care for her while he did that, but he made sure she was well cared for. 

They had sold their family home and John had put all the money from it into a trust fund with her name on it. Only she knew the details for the account, they hadn't even told Cousin Penny about it.

But the day she had been officially adopted by Penny was the day he had last seen her. They had gone to the airport with him so he could come back home, and Nora had started to cry. He knew she was afraid, he was too, he loved her, but he was doing what was best for her. He remembered it like it had been yesterday.

*

John stood on the pier watching anxiously as the Daedalus docked, he didn't really know what to expect, he hadn't seen Nora since she was eight and above all, he hadn't talked to her since then. For all he knew, she hated him now.

He watched the people file off following one of the ship's crew to the meeting room just inside the dock. Every woman that passed him was open to his scrutiny. He wasn't sure if she'd stand out to him, if her pretty eight year old features would still be present on her face.

The last of the group passed him and he relaxed in sadness. He hadn't been able to tell who she was; he couldn't recognise his own sister.

"Wait for me," a lone woman stepped off the ship calling to the last female he'd seen and stopped, her jaw dropped at the sight of the city and John got a perfect view of her.

"Nora," he breathed taking in her beautiful face and slim figure, she looked healthy and well cared for as she turned to him and his mothers green eyes met his. She narrowed her eyes on him and he could see the faint recollection on her face, she knew him, just couldn't place it.

"John?" she questioned seeming to come to a conclusion about who he was. John could only manage a stiff nod and Nora took a step towards him. He couldn't look away, even as Major Lorne and Elizabeth stopped nearby, to Elizabeth the situation must have looked simply awkward. "Why didn't you write?"

The timid question tore at his heart and he hung his head. In the almost twenty years they had been separated, he hadn't written to her once like he had promised.

"I'm sorry, Nora," he looked back up to see the tears in her eyes and the small smile on her lips. She shuddered before she stepped forwards and wrapped him in a tight hug.

Tentatively he placed his hands on her back, before taking a deep breath and pulling her close. He had found his sister again, in the most unlikely of places. Over her shoulder Elizabeth smiled at him before placing her hand on Lorne's arm and turning away from them. John watched the Major give him a shy smile before he followed.

"I did what I thought was best for you," he said.

"I know," she said. "I don't hate you for it," she pulled away and smiled at him before turning serious. "But would it have killed you to write?"

"Probably," he said with a grin and felt his whole body warm with her laughter.

~~**~~

**Future - Age 48**

John crouched low as he rounded the corner and slipped along the corridor. He checked the palm scanner again and saw his target a few feet ahead. As he looked up he saw the small face peak around the corner before she took off again, her laughter flowing back to his ears.

Quickly he darted forward, rounded the corner and sprinted the short distance to sweep her up into his arms. She squealed in delight as John pulled back the small shirt the Athosian's had made her and blew against her stomach.

She carried on laughing as he turned the corner and came face to face with Ronon.

"She stopped again," he said simply handing over his friend's four year old daughter.

"You're too playful with your niece," Ronon said. "She likes getting caught too much, she won't learn that way."

"Ronon," he said tucking the scanner away, "there's no real reason Kyara has to learn like this. There are hardly any Wraith left for her to have to fight."

"I still want her to be aware, there are still people around that want to take power."

He could understand the wisdom behind the words but had to laugh as Kyara reached up at that point and placed her hand over his mouth her little fingers barely covering her father's lips.

"Looks like she's on my side," John said before stepping into the transporter.


	3. Elizabeth Weir

**Past - Age 17**

She didn't know why she bothered. If it wasn't for her mother's constant nagging and the fact that she was home most of the day, Elizabeth wouldn't get up to go to school.

"Up," her mother said tersely walking into her room and yanking the covers off her and exposing her to the cold air. "If you miss the bus again, I am not giving you a lift."

Elizabeth groaned and turned over onto her front. School, she hated to admit, was boring. She wanted to skip it and go straight for university, although she had no idea what she wanted to do when she had finished learning, she just wasn't challenged in high school. She had tried hard to tell her mother this over the last two months, but as usual she was described as "just behaving like a teenager" and told to do her chores.

For this time, her dad had been away on business. He had returned yesterday and not wanting to spoil the great evening they always had together when he got back, she didn't bring the topic up.

"Get up," her mum ordered as she left the room slamming the door behind her. Despite the closed door, Elizabeth could her complaining about a lazy daughter all the way down the stairs.

"Elizabeth," her dad said poking his head in through the door, "don't aggravate your mother, please."

"I'm up," she said against the pillow. "And cold," she added and heard his chuckle as he closed the door. She shifted across the bed and dropped her knee off the side before placing her foot down and pushing her chest up so she was almost completely standing.

She showered and dressed slowly and appeared at the bottom of the stairs in time to see the bus pull up in front. As casually as she could, she wondered into the kitchen, picked up her school bag and turned to leave.

"And what about breakfast?"

"Do you want me to eat or go to school?"

The driver beeped to get attention, but Elizabeth didn't move, her mother's glare was nothing to be trifled with, but there was no way she was letting up on the question. It was obvious at some point that she'd done something to upset her mum and it had everything to do with school.

Silence prevailed and through all of it Elizabeth forced her face to stay static, no raised brow, no look of annoyance, just mild curiosity. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the bus move away from the curb and out of sight.

"Might as well have breakfast now, 'Beth," her dad said calmly.

"I'm not hungry," she told him her voice filled with contempt. "As I can't seem to get it right, get up in time for the school bus but get told off for missing breakfast," she paused at the door and practically ripped her coat from the cupboard, "or get up for breakfast and get yelled at for missing the bus."

She pulled the front door open, stepped out and gave it a hard enough yank to hear it slam as she vanished down the stairs and along the garden path.

Elizabeth arrived with twenty minutes of geography left. She didn't apologise to Mr Pince as she stomped into the room and dropped into the seat at the back. She didn't even acknowledge his good morning or the "nice of you to join us, Miss Weir" that followed it. She liked Mr Pince, he was kind and left Elizabeth to it, he recognised that she knew the answers and was bored by the lesson. He also had the respect for his students that they gave him.

It had been funny when she first met him, when one of his students had rudely interrupted the lesson by holding a conversation with the boy next to him. Mr Pince had stopped what he was doing, ignored them and sat down next to Penny (who was sitting next to Elizabeth).

"It's a lovely day," he had said rather loudly. "Don't you agree?"

When the boys up front had realised that he was copying them, they had looked embarrassed. "Let me explain," he said sounding a little pompous, but still friendly. "During my lessons, I will give you the same respect you give me. You will call me Mr Pince, therefore, I will call you Miss Price," he indicated to the shy girl in the corner, "and you Miss Weir," he added to Elizabeth. "All you have to do, to be treated with respect, is show me some."

The bell jarred Elizabeth out of her stupor and she looked up to find Mr Pince hooking his finger in her direction. She got up, ignoring all the other students as they left the room and made her way calmly to the front.

"Miss Weir," he stated casually.

"Mr Pince," she replied matching his tone.

"I respect that you might have your reasons for being late, and I will respect your privacy not to discuss it," he said clearing the blackboard. "But next time you ignore me, I might not be so kind about it."

"Yes, sir," she said.

"I thought your father came back from Germany yesterday," he said placing the eraser on the side, "I expected you to be the one with the biggest and most beautiful smile."

She couldn't even take the moment to appreciate that he had complimented her. She just wanted to get this over with; like the rest of her slow and depressing day.

"Is there something in the school that's bothering you?"

"No, sir," she said adding an uncharacteristic sigh to the end. Mr Pince raised his eyebrow.

"What lesson should you be heading to now?"

"French," she said with more contempt.

"Ahh, well then you won't have a problem sitting down right there," he indicated the closest desk, "and telling me what's going on."

Elizabeth didn't move. She considered for a moment suggesting that she should get to her next lesson, but Mr Pince had the uncanny ability to know the strength and weakness of every student in the school.

"Something wrong?"

"Not in the school," she said keeping her tone even this time. 

"How about with the school?"

She shook her head.

"A student," she shook her head again, "a teacher?" another no from her, "the lessons," she hesitated and shook her head again. "You're a smart young woman, Elizabeth," he said dropping his usual respectful use of last name. "Anyone who teaches in this school, who cannot see that, does not deserve to teach."

Elizabeth dropped her head in an attempt to hide the smile; it wasn't the compliment or acknowledgment of her cleverness. It was the list of teachers that suddenly appeared in her head that fit his description. Her French teaching being at the top of that list.

Thankfully, before he could speak on this matter and her sudden disrespect for certain members of the faculty, someone interrupted.

"Excuse me, Mr Pince," a small boy clearly in his first year at the school said stepping into the room. "Mr Weir is here to see his daughter," she saw his eyes flick to her. Mr Pince thanked the boy and turned back to Elizabeth.

"Tomorrow, Miss Weir," he said her name dangerously making sure she knew the respect had returned, "I expect at least an answer to my good morning."

"Yes, Mr Pince," she said softly and turned to the door. She paused before opening it and turned back to face him. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to disrespect you."

He simply smiled at her and she returned the smile and left the room.

She expected her dad to be waiting in the corridor by the entrance. But when she showed at the main desk to find out why he was there, the seats were empty save for a young girl and her mum.

"Smokers area with the teachers, Elizabeth," the old and pleasant woman behind the desk said. She thanked her and stepped out the front door and turned to head along the front of the building. The teachers smoking area was around the side of the building and Elizabeth listened carefully as she approached, listening to hear what they were talking about. But it wasn't the conversation that she heard.

The screeching of tires reached her ears first, the scream of a boy sounding almost cowboy like. She imagined him standing up through the sun roof of a large car, screaming as his friend drove like a mad man around corners. They were close, and she heard the next cry of joy as she rounded the corner. The ringing of gun fire accompanied the voice and Elizabeth watched in horror as the boy in the car turned.

The gun swung around and the bullets pummelled against the stone of the school. Down the side of the building her dad and two teachers tried to move quickly out of the way, only to be struck by the bullets.

She moved, taking a few quick steps towards them, heard someone call her name from behind her just as a piece of fast moving metal struck her shoulder and propelled it back against the building. She hit her head against it and the pain resonated through her skull. She turned to see her dad's eyes fixed on her for a moment before they glazed over and she passed out.

~*~

**Present - Age 38**

She turned the corner and stepped into the infirmary with her head down. Every year on the same day she did this, pretending the day away in her palm computer and no one seemed to notice. Except of cause for Jack O'Neill who three years ago had watched her as she vanished quickly into a bathroom; she hadn't known he'd watched until he asked if she was okay later on. She had simply had too long to think about what day of the year it was.

For now though, she was intent on putting off her medical check up for just a few more days and hoping that she could slip through the day without any emergencies or anyone asking if she was okay. But apparently that wasn't going to happen

"Elizabeth," John called to her as she passed by his current bed. She turned in time to see him pull his shirt over his head and dropped her head to avoid studying his chest. "I wanted to ask about the training schedule."

"What about it?" she asked trying to remember when there was a problem with scheduling training.

"You did read the memo from the IOA right?" he said examining her. She raised the small computer again and pretended to be checking for the memo. "Are you okay?" he asked and she paused.

"Fine," she said. "Excuse me," she added and walked quickly away.

She didn't stick around to find Carson, to talk her way out of her exam. She left the room quickly and headed to the nearest unoccupied space. She crossed to the window and dropped her forehead to the cool glass.

"Elizabeth?"

She had to bite her lip to stop from crying out in shock. She had thought she was quick enough to escape. She thought to control herself as she listened to John's footsteps and made use of the PDA in her hand and recalled the memo he had mentioned.

_"All members of the expedition should be trained in hand to hand combat and the use of a side arm in case of attack from enemy forces."_

"You okay?" he asked tentatively.

"I can't fire a gun," she said as strongly as she could. "I won't fire a gun."

"How about a stunner and we tell them it was a gun?" he said with laughter in his voice. She knew when she failed to return the joke that he would realise she had something else on her mind. "You know, this time last year, I was stuck on another planet with Lorne's team for four days. When I got back, Teyla came to see me, told me she was worried about you, that you had spent most of two days not really knowing what was going on."

She let out a sigh; trust Teyla to spot that something was different.

"Remember a few months after Ronon got here? We had that meeting about the scientists being taught to fight and shoot," she nodded at the moment and he continued. "After, Ronon asked me why you would never pick up a weapon, wanted to know why you would let someone strap the stunner to you, but wouldn't actually take hold of it or use it."

"What did you tell him?" she asked quietly fixing her eyes on the movement on the pier below.

"The truth, that you had spent your life trying to prove they weren't needed. That they were only there for the wrong reasons," he paused, and she wondered if he was waiting to see if she'd turned. "He asked if there was something that caused you to think that way," she felt him shift at her side. "I hadn't thought about it until then. Was there?"

Elizabeth straightened up attempting to compose herself but felt the tear slip down her cheek without permission. The door behind her opened and John instantly turned away from her.

"Not now," he said tartly to the person who had entered.

"I need to ask Elizabeth something," Rodney said shortly and she heard his footsteps.

"Not... now," John said harshly and she could only imagine the piercing look he gave his friend. Rodney stammered a little trying to find a good reason to carry on his interruption, but failed, groaned out a "fine" and left.

Silence filled the room and Elizabeth continued her attempts to think of something else. She couldn't understand why 21 years later she couldn't get past this day without crying. Usually she managed most of it, enough of it to make it back to her room and cry herself to sleep. Somehow working in the midst of so many enemies and surrounded by so many military personnel, it made things worse.

"My father was killed," she said and the sob escaped her throat unbidden, "twenty-one years ago today."

"Shot?" John asked simply and she nodded.

"These teenagers where joyriding, one of them with a gun who just shot around wherever he wanted," she crumpled and suddenly realised she'd never told anyone about this. "He wasn't even supposed to be there," she sobbed as she dropped to sit on the floor in the corner of the room.

"Where?" John asked crouching down beside her, his hand resting on her raised knee.

"My school. He was probably there to find out why I was so moody, why I snapped at my mom that morning. If I hadn't been so difficult..." she let out a helpless cry and tried to turn away from him, but his arms wrapped quickly around her and she was pulled against his chest.

For the first time she talked about it, told him what had happened that morning, how she'd been kept back in her class when someone had told her he was there. How her mother had closed her off for days, broken down and cried all day. 

Elizabeth had shown up at school every day after the event and sat quietly through class. Everyone had watched her, walked egg shells around her and all the teachers had tried to get her to go home. But she refused. For her mother's sake she had been strong.

He had been the only one of the three standing down the side of the building to die. The two injured teachers, Mrs Morris (math) and Mr Harmon (debate) had come to the funeral out of respect to Elizabeth. She remembered that day clearly, her uncle had held her close and whispered that it was ok to cry, while her mother couldn't even stand up from her grief and she and her aunt sat on their knees in tears.

She hadn't cried, not then, and not for six years after. Until her university graduation day when after all the awards had been handed out she hid in her room and cried because he wasn't there to see it.

The scar on her shoulder were she'd been struck was the only show that something had happened to her that day other than the loss of a parent. She never looked at it, avoided letting her eyes go there in the mirrors and the first time Carson had examined her she had turned her head away when he asked about it. He never did get an answer to that question.

The door had opened somewhere in the midst of Elizabeth's outpour of bad memories and when she finally acknowledged that someone else was in the room, it was because he made a comment about something she said.

"I know why the scar’s there now, love," Carson admitted as he patted her knee.

She didn't lift her head from John's chest, it felt safe. He always had been a comfort for her. From his flirting moments to his disregard to her authority, she always knew he'd be there. She didn't love him, she cared for him, more than she wanted to admit and it scared her to think that one day he'd return to the city with a bullet in his chest, just where her dad had been shot and she'd have to stand tall in front of the expedition members and give his funeral.

They stayed in the room for hours only to leave when the darkening sky outside had made it impossible to see their hands in front of their faces. She dried her face, hoping no one would see the tear tracks and stepped blinking into the corridor.

Despite the fact that John's room was closer to the infirmary, he insisted on walking all the way to her room with her. It turned out to be a good idea as Rodney and Radek attempted to bombard her with work and he dismissed them and told them to try again day after next.

He whistled as she stepped out of the bathroom. "Sexy lady," his eyes dropping to her legs. She quickly moved to the bed and climbed in to cover her cotton pyjamas. She knew he was watching as she fussed with the blanket and when she got frustrated with the corner she couldn't quite reach he moved over and straightened it.

"Thank you," she said just before he pushed her shoulders back to make her lay down. "I don't need tucking in, John, I'm a full grown adult."

"Ah, so you don't want a bedtime story either?"

"No," she laughed at him; he always seemed to find a way to make her feel better, even if he didn't know it. "I want to try," she said and John's brow creased. "Target practice with a gun."

"You don't have to Elizabeth," he said sympathetically, "we can tell them you did, they won't know. What're they gonna do, turn up and demand to see you fire one?"

"Just once," she said, "to see if I can. Just...," she hesitated and looked away from him.

"What?"

"I don't want anyone else in the room," she said shyly. "No chance of an accident."

"Okay," he said with a small smile. "No one else. Goodnight Elizabeth."

~*~

**Future - Age 47**

She crossed the corridor to the control room and stopped behind the technician. Two years ago, she had made a very big mistake in Atlantis, since that day, she had been stuck Earth side. At first, she'd hated it, withdrawn from everything Stargate related and attempted to fit back into her old life.

It hadn't worked, especially when John showed up at her door and asked why she never replied to his letters.

Today however, was a wonderful day. In little under 25 hours she'd be on board the Daedalus, driving the new captain nutty for the two day travel back to the city.

She was going home.

She had spent the last few days wondering just what John Sheppard, Colonel, not Lieutenant Colonel, had done to get her back. How badly had he messed up to make the IOA realise they had made a mistake by judging her decision after the mistake was made.

The day she had left, he had ranted for hours, followed her around while she was still there trying to find a reason why they couldn't see how stupid they were. Why they couldn't comprehend how hard it was to make the right call and how easy it was to see the right way out of a situation, when you're stuck safely behind a desk and only seeing the aftermath.

She knew Rodney had written letters, he always sent her a copy. The first one of which had been like a book, 75 pages long and detailing all the things Elizabeth had done right and weighing them against all the wrongs choices she had made in the past 10 years. She was thankful the ones that had followed had been kept down to less than five pages, although she wondered just how much he kept back.

She made a note to ask him as she watched John and Ronon step through the SGC's Stargate. They looked good, healthy and as she stepped into the gate room to greet them she took in the thin scar that ran down Ronon's neck just missing his tattoo.

She finally knew where she belonged in the world. It had only taken 30 years.


	4. Ronon Dex

**Past - Age 14**

"One of these days," his father said as he usually did when he was about to make a proclamation about the war between them and their neighbouring continent, "we'll learn that our own petty fighting was stupid. The Wraith will show up one day and destroy us. Do you know why we won't be able to defend ourselves?" the old man turned to Ronon as he asked the question.

"Because we'd have wasted our weapons and resources on the Samalan priests," he said attempting to hide the tired in his voice at the repeated conversation.

"The declaration of war that just went out," his father said calmly sitting down next to him, "was a promise to wipe them from the planet. I tried to tell them to just wait for the Wraith and let them do it for us, but they are too stubborn."

He paused and sighed deeply and Ronon turned his head to watch him. His age was showing on his face and there was no denying that bring Ronon up alone had taken its toll. Ronon had watched it slowly start to dwindle in the last few year when at meal times he would give him the larger portion and barely touch his own small helping.

"They will be rounding up new recruits Ronon," he said turning and catching his eye. "I do not know what youth they will stop at this time, last time, it was sixteen, but I would not be surprised if they went lower in order to get their numbers."

He paused again and Ronon met his gaze as he turned. He could see the fear that he would be recruited to the army in his father's eyes and he would be a fool at any age to not be afraid too. He straightened his back and turned in his seat to watch the old man.

"I will serve proudly in the army just as you did," he said without a trace of fear in his voice. His heart was beating, he was just a boy; just 14 and he was likely to be taken for training for a petty war he had no interest in.

He had known from a very young age that there was no choice, one day when he was old enough he would be forced into the armed forces. He had hoped that when that day came he would be trained to fend off the Wraith, not destroy a land of priests who had tried several times to simply request a trade for food and clean water.

Granted the Satedans needed the supplies themselves but there were many other ways to help them. Ronon had always wanted to travel through the ring that stood at the crossover to lower end of town and where they were now. It faced the poorer section for a reason; the Wraith would hunt there first. 

This was something else that Ronon hated about their people, but the ring could be useful for something other than letting the Wraith through. The Prior, second only to the Satedan leader, often sent people through the ring to find trading partners, he assumed they could use it to find the priests somewhere else to live.

"Promise me something," his father said pushing up from his place and walking towards the kitchen, probably to start dinner. Ronon stood and followed him into the next room to help. "When they do put you out there to fight," he said pulling a few objects from a cupboard and dropping them on the side before turning and taking Ronon by the shoulder. "Promise me," he said almost angrily, "that you will never kill a priest, that you will never shoot someone who wouldn't do you any harm."

"I promise, father."

His father opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by the bells of the city hall. The ring was only ever heard for one of two reasons, either the Wraith were here to cull, which hadn't happened in years, or they were officially declaring war and the gathering of troops.

"Listen to me," he said quickly as the sound of movement outside signalled that they were collecting their new recruits. "I have told you a lie all your life Ronon, I did so to protect you," he took a deep breath and Ronon creased his brow, what lie could he have possibly been told? "Your mother is alive Ronon, she is a priestess of Samala. If you tell anyone this information, anyone at all, they will kill you for it, do you understand?"

"She's alive?"

"Do you understand me, Ronon?"

"Yes," he was a little numb, but he said it. His brain began to run wild with the knowledge, the woman years ago who had stood watching him from across the street, the stories about the priests, priestesses and monks of Samala who had the blood to repel the Wraith.

This information answered so many of his questions. His father was the only man in their council to the leader who believed the Samalan should be left alone, that they would one day bring the salvation of their world. He had been raised with the belief that they were the only way to stop the Wraith.

If he was drafted today, he would have to find a way not only to keep his promise, but to find the woman he had seen. He moved across the room and climbed up onto the high stool that his father had made so he could help at the counter and picked up one of the vegetables to start chopping it.

Silence fell, the sound of his knife against the countertop and his father still rummaging around for things to add to his stew the only sounds. Ronon forced himself not to ask questions, he couldn't, not now and not with so many guards standing just outside. His curiosity would have to wait until they were gone, assuming of course he didn't have to go with them.

"Were you going to tell me?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Yes," was all the man said as he pulled the pan from another cupboard and lit the fire to start cooking. "When you were older," he added and Ronon turned to watch him fill the pot with water and drop the things in that were ready.

"What's her name?" he asked hoping it would help him later if nothing else.

"Kyara, she was beautiful," he said the words as if needing to explain why he'd gone to a priest to begin with. "Long black curls that ran down her back, dark eyes and a smile that would entice you for hours."

He nodded and looked up out the window as the three older boys from the next house were walked past. The youngest of the three was only a year older than he was and it made him nervous. Surely they didn't hate these priests so much that they would take children from their homes and send them to kill them. Did they?

A sharp rap at the door made him jump and almost fell of the stool as he tried to move further away from the suddenly offending object. He didn't want to go, he loved his father, despite the lie and to leave would only mean he would get more ill than he currently was and probably because his son was being sent to kill his own mother.

The corner of the room suddenly felt too large and open as he backed into it and his father turned his eyes to look at him.

"I'm sorry my son," he said. "I cannot stop them from taking you."

"Why can't we ask the Samalan to leave through the ring?"

"I have tried that way of thinking, they do not even try to ask it of them, they won't even talk with them."

"I don't want to kill people, I don't want to hurt other Satedan's, they are the same as us are they not?"

"They are," he said moving to the door as the knock sounded again, "but the religion they follow..."

"Is simply different. They have done nothing to hurt us," he said pleadingly.

"I know Ronon, but you will have to keep that to yourself. Please."

With that he was gone and Ronon looked wildly around the room. The only way out of the building was through the door his father was currently opening. He hoped desperately for a reprieve, he was 14, barely 14 and he was small even for his age.

They wouldn't want him, he thought with promise, he was skinny and short he would be no good to them and they would take one look at him and leave. Ronon knew it was a desperate wish, but it was hope nonetheless.

His father appeared again in the doorway and beckoned to him, he didn't move for a moment, wishing the corner of the room would swallow him up never to be seen again. When he did move his feet were unsteady and he shook with the fear that he would never get to see his father again.

As he stepped into the adjoining room he listened to the end of a conversation between the man fetching him and his father.

"It's five years of hard training then he will be able to leave the facility to visit in his down time," the man said. "After that it is only a matter of time before we move the forces in."

Ronon moved unsteadily towards them and looked up at the tall and muscular man. Suddenly and for the first time wishing he was a girl.

"You can bring one personal item with you, Ronon," the man said and Ronon swallowed hard. He wanted to say he would bring his father, but knew that would not be allowed. He turned and walked slowly into his room and picked up a necklace his father had made for him for his last birthday and returned to the main room. 

"Ready?" the man said and moved to the door.

"Be brave," his father said stopping him before he reached the door and pulling him into a hug, "five years will go by quickly."

With that he placed a kiss on Ronon's forehead and Ronon followed the man from the house. His jaw was clenched as he was lifted into the vehicle to be taken away and as they moved off he looked back at his home to see his father standing on the threshold and smiling proudly at him.

~~**~~**~~

**Present - Age 28**

He'd seen her every day since she arrived, it had only been a few weeks, but still he couldn't help himself. She was beautiful and every time he saw her he couldn't stop the voice in his head that sounded just like his father reaping the words of a description.

_"Long black curls that ran down her back, dark eyes and a smile that would entice you for hours."_

It had been the description of his mother but fit this new woman so well that it trapped Ronon in a dream-like state for several hours a day. As well as filling his nights with dreams that were not something he would repeat to anyone. 

He wanted to talk to her, ask her out on what the humans in the city had called a "date", but so far the first part of this task had been impossible. Whenever he saw her she was with Elizabeth Weir. Granted he didn't doubt that Elizabeth wouldn't tease him for asking her secretary out on a date, but having someone there to listen would just make it twice as hard.

He'd heard rumours, murmurs that the she was the relative to someone in the city, but Ronon hadn't heard to whom she was related. He didn't care, he was captivated.

Since the Wraith war on Sateda, he had never looked at a woman with the lust in his eyes he knew he now held for this beauty. She had an unusual name, but then most of the people from Earth had strange names to him, but Nora was the strangest, yet simplest he had heard yet.

She had smiled at him a few days back and he must have looked the stupidest he ever had, gawping at her as he stared at her dark green eyes and bright smile. She had been alone then, but only for a second, he had been watching her talking with Rodney McKay only to turn and walk in his direction. He hadn't been quick enough to move, his heart beating faster than ever had frozen him in place.

Nora had passed him and turned a corner before he realised that now was his chance and he darted off. He rounded the corner and caught sight of her down the corridor walking along side John Sheppard.

He suddenly realised someone else had joined Nora and Elizabeth in the office. John was standing there talking to them and he gave Nora a bright smile that sent a wave of anger through him. He would not let Sheppard touch this woman, like he did so often off-world.

"Ronon?"

He didn't acknowledge the arrival of someone else in the area, he simply started, his eyes taking in the body language of John Sheppard as Nora stood up and showed him something on her PDA. He said something then that made both women laugh and Ronon wondered briefly which of them he had intended to capture.

He knew there was something between him and Elizabeth Weir and he'd held his tongue when one morning he'd seen Sheppard leave her private room. Would he be so heartless as to take two women at the same time?

"Ronon?" The hand on his arm made him jerk around and face Teyla with venom. "I am sorry to interrupt your stargazing," she said with a smirk. "Do you know what time the meeting is?"

"A few minutes," he said checking his watch. The reason he had arrived so early was because he needed a moment to compose himself. Nora would be present for this meeting and he didn't want to risk that if he had to speak, he would sound like a bumbling idiot.

"You like her," Teyla said with a friendly grin.

"What?" he said, badly faking ignorance.

"Nora," she said. "Have you actually met her yet?"

"No," he said and could feel the heat rise in his cheeks. "Looks like Sheppard's beating everyone to her though," he looked back to see the man grin at Nora.

"You have nothing to fear from John," she said and he turned a questioning eye on her. "She is his sister," his head snapped back to the office and he suddenly managed to see the likeness between them. "Ronon," she said quietly and he watched as Elizabeth got to her feet. "If you like her that much, you should do something about it, it is past time you took another mate."

"I can't get near her," he said a little too quietly. "She's always with Weir."

"I will find a way for you," she turned and walked away towards the conference room.

*

"Hello."

Ronon froze he knew the voice too well having practically stalked the woman since he first saw her. Teyla had obviously found a way to get her to him and alone, but he had to curse her for her choice of time and location. The smell of sweat suddenly intensified in the training room and he slowly turned to set his eyes on Nora Wells.

"You're Ronon Dex, right?"

He nodded almost dumbly and tried to find his voice, it seemed to have deserted him to the depth of his stomach which was churning dangerously at her closeness.

"I've been meaning to get to know all of the first team a little," she said calmly taking a few steps further into the room and Ronon became acutely aware that the door would close soon. "Elizabeth has pointed everyone out to me and I confess I've been a little nervous about talking to you."

"Why?" it wasn't what he wanted to say at that moment, he thought of words like "I'm harmless," or "I love you," but they seemed to join his voice in his churning gut.

"I, erm," she took a deep breath and looked around the room, "I kinda thought were cute when I first saw you, had to get my nerve together to come and talk to you."

"Oh," his mind ran though words his father would punish him for thinking, but he couldn't help it, she was right here with him. Alone.

"Teyla gave me some words of wisdom, said I should just get it over with and even dragged me down her."

He suddenly imagined Teyla standing just outside the door and became somewhat grateful when the automatic timer kicked in and the double door slid closed behind her. 

"I've seen you around a few times," she paused and looked down and he realised she was just as nervous as he was. "Quite a few times actually," he smiled despite himself, knowing she'd known he was following her. "Where you trying to find time to talk to me?" She had taken a few steps forward as she asked this and Ronon shifted uncomfortably.

"No," he said harshly and couldn't hide the regret for the outburst on his face. "Sorry," he said just as shortly. "It's just that..." he swallowed a lump in his throat and tried vainly to clear it out.

"I've seen the way you look at me, Ronon," she said and he sighed and looked down. "Were you afraid of talking to me because I'm John's sister?"

"No," he shook his head but didn't raise it to look at her. "I haven't felt this way about a woman since the Wraith war on Sateda."

"When was that?" he looked up this time, confused by the question. He knew only too well that Elizabeth would have told her everything about the Atlantis flag team.

"I thought you would have been told that."

"I was," she said honestly and he caught the small smile she gave him. "But you seemed more comfortable with that line of conversation."

She took a few more steps and the now lingering smell of sweat suddenly lurched down his throat to become tangible. He involuntarily dropped his eyes to her lips and had to bite back a growl as her tongue darted out to lick them.

"Almost ten years ago," he said unable to take his eyes off her soft lips. She was only a few steps away from him. It would take him one long stride to close the gap, take her slim form into his arms and kiss her.

"Was she your wife?"

"No," he said. "She was going to be." Only John had ever asked him that question. He'd said less to his close friend than he did to this woman. "I loved her, but that was a long time ago."

A few more steps and Ronon suddenly brought his eyes up to her eyes. There was something there; hidden by a careful expression and it occurred to him that she didn't approach him slowly to make him comfortable with her. The conversation she started had done that job. She came closer for something else.

He swallowed at the lump again as she took yet another small step and he felt his breathing increase. His opportunity to actually ask her for a date was running out, it wouldn't be long before the radio in her ear would activate; she would be called away.

Without thinking about it, without even meaning to act he took a half step forward and lowered his lips to hers. She didn't protest or move away, she was as tentative in the kiss as he was.

When he broke away he was on the verge of apologising for forcing the kiss on her, but she smiled up at him and he heard the beep of her radio.

"Join me for dinner," he said shortly as her hand came up to answer the radio. Her face relaxed into another smiled.

"Come fetch me at seven," she said before activating the radio. Her smile grew brighter as she turned to leave the room. The door closed quicker for her on the way out and the second it was shut, Ronon sank to his knees on the padded floor.

"Thank the gods," he breathed a blessing no other Satedan would mutter.

~~**~~**~~

**Future - Age 32**

For all the things that had occurred in his life, good and bad, there was nothing as frustrating and nerve racking as this. He could remember the day he was drafted for the war, the day he returned home almost three years earlier than initially thought. The day the Wraith came and he watched his contingent slowly slaughtered.

All the pain he had suffered, the sadness he had felt, the anger at the Wraith and every emotion he could image from such an early age. Still nothing compared to the strange sensation of anticipation and fear that settled over him now.

He was going to be a parent. Better than that, he was going to be a real father, he would have no worry about his child being drafted or fighting a Wraith war like he had done. He wouldn't have to hide the child's identity from the people around him and above all, he had learned that he could show emotion and no one would think poorly of him for it.

Ronon paced back across the doorway aware that the eyes of Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard were on him. But they could watch him all they liked. It didn't change the fact that he thought himself on the wrong side of the door.

Elizabeth had told him when this had started that on Earth, men could be in the room when their children were born, if both parties wanted it. He knew Nora wanted it, but he was bound by two separate laws he had learned as he grew up on Sateda. The Satedan's would never allow the moment of such indignity to be shown to man, except the husband, but he and Nora were not married. The Samalan law stated that the gods they worshiped would give the child an illness or disability should he see it before it was cleaned and comforted by the mother.

As he had in the last ten years taken to thanking those gods for bringing Nora his way, and keeping John Sheppard from hurting him for touching her, he felt it best not to overstep his bounds.

The door opened and a young and new female doctor stepped out and smiled at him. On either side of him John and Elizabeth got to their feet waiting to hear the verdict of the baby's sex.

"Congratulations," she said, "it's a girl. She's already clean and with Nora."

Ronon felt his heart stop; almost literally. He had a daughter, a beautiful little girl who he could teach to be as powerful and deadly as Teyla and as wild as he had been without fear. His feet moved without his brain's comprehension and he found himself standing at Nora's bedside looking down at the tiny face.

"What are you going to call her?" Elizabeth asked from just behind him and he couldn't think of an appropriate name; not that he and Nora had ever talked about names.

"Kyara," Nora said causing him to look sharply up at her and pulling the muscle in his neck. "Take her Ronon," she said with tears in her eyes. "Take our daughter."

He reached out and took the small delicate girl in his arms and looked down at her. Black eyes stared up at him for a moment before they drifted slowly closed and he smiled as she started her first sleep in his arms.


	5. Rodney McKay

**Past - Age 17**

University had not been what he expected. Having graduated from high school far earlier than everyone else had simply added to his thoughts that he was smarter by far than anyone else. Even his sister, or so he thought.

University however did not agree with Meredith Rodney McKay, or at least the other students didn't. Before he arrived it had been his parent's ridicule that had been a problem, and every morning his father complained about how much it was costing to put him through this level of schooling. Rodney bit back the retort that they'd have to pay for it eventually anyway and they should consider it out of the way now.

Antagonising the man would not have been a wise idea. Money wasn't hard come by in their family he knew they lived comfortably, but it seemed that anything that made them spend money on him only made them bitter and resentful. Where Jeanie was concerned, however, it was perfectly fine and they seemed to shower her with anything she asked for.

But he could look the other way from their comments. The other students of the university were something else entirely. They called him names as he walked the corridors, sniggered behind his back. Rodney just held his head high, he was better than all of them he told himself, one day he'd make more money than the lot of them put together.

He would be famous and rich, he thought as he made his way into the cafeteria to get lunch, at 17 he had already proven to people he was smarter than anyone. His atomic bomb presentation for his sixth grade science fair had drawn perhaps a little too much attention. The FBI had questioned him for more than six hours seeming afraid of him becoming a terrorist or working from a terrorist faction. Despite the fact that good had come from the interview he had been yelled at for days by his father for disgracing the family.

It was probably this point that he realised there was no one with his intelligence. That he would grow up to be a world famous inventor, with his name in every science book and his face on the twenty dollar bill.

He joined the queue of lunch and ignored the names and sniggers that came his way from the nearest table. Even though he had simply persevered with having to attend such a school in order to reach his rich and famous goal, Rodney thought that he could slip through it unnoticed, get the books and read them, take the lessons and see if there was something new in them and leave with a PhD.

Apparently a 17 year stood out too much in amongst the others who were now adults and able to live in the dorm rooms. He guessed that the amount of times he had corrected a teacher in the past seven months didn't help matters either, but he couldn't find the power to care.

He took a step back almost casually as someone chucked a chunk of fruit his way, he didn't bother to see what it was as he stepped over it and reached the tray pile. He picked up a fresh bread roll and dropped it onto a side plate before placing that on the corner of his tray. Moving on to the fruit he listened to the sniggers from behind him.

"Don't forget your lemon, Rodney," one of the boys behind him said as he picked up an apple and a banana. Several other students behind him sniggered at the comment but Rodney paid no attention to them. Instead he looked down the line at the other students, one of them had stopped to make a decision of what main meal to have and Rodney, being hungry, was getting impatient.

He couldn't help, as he ignored the comments about Lemon Chicken and other such foods, thinking about the last time he'd spent time with his sister. Jeanie, despite not being as smart as he was had always followed him around. If he was honest he did like his sister, but the favouritism his parents showed her over him was just annoying, which in his eyes made her annoying.

He finally reached the hot food and made a quick selection, he had to give the dinner lady a look of impatient as the boy who had made a comment about the lemon earlier once again suggested his meal for him. She smiled at him and gave him what he asked for in a generous portion and he accepted the plate with a massive grin.

By this point the cue had vanished, the only thing after the hot food was the drinks and then to find a seat.

The only problem with eating here, other than the fact you couldn't go back for seconds, not that he needed to with the helpings he often got, was finding somewhere to sit. The way he saw it, he had two choices; he could sit with the students who were neither popular nor bullied and stand the ridicule of them and all the others around him. Or he could sit with the geeks.

Sitting with the latter was the worst of these ideas, it would mean he admitted he was one of them, and he wasn't, he was much better. He would have preferred to sit alone, but in this busy school that was practically impossible.

As he always did he picked the emptiest table and sat as far away from everyone else as he possibly could. He set his tray down and then realised he'd forgotten to pick up his cutlery. Leaving the tray he moved over to the side of the room, selected his knife and fork and returned to his meal.

He had barely taken a few bites when he realised the difference in the taste. Lasagne shouldn't taste this tangy, he thought as he picked up another fork full and sniffed at it. He looked up at the next table and caught the boys there watching him expectantly.

"Oh no," he said realising what they had done, this was the guy in the line behind him who had made comments about citrus; someone Rodney had made a habit of asking the dinner lady about every day.

He tried to stand but couldn't find the strength in his legs, he looked wildly around as he felt his lungs constrict and his breathing became laboured. To his left one of the girls had gotten up and walking towards him.

"Rodney," she asked carefully standing a few steps away. "Are you alright?"

He caught sight of her face before everything around started to blur. It was a moment later that hands took hold of his arm and he managed to take in the familiar voice of one of his teachers before he really began to struggle for breathe. He wanted nothing more than take a deep long gulp of air.

*

"Always costing money."

The voice of his father reached his ears before he realised he was awake; the tone was as it always was, condescending and intended to make him feel bad.

"I can't even get through a whole day at work without someone calling me about you," he added seemingly aware that Rodney could hear him. "Do you do it on purpose? Waste the money we earn, I work all day to put you through university and now you add on medical bills."

"I didn't do this to myself," he said attempting to sound harsh but failing as his chest still hurt.

"Oh no?" he dad said sarcastically. "I suppose one of those bullies at school did this."

"Yes, actually," he reached to the side table for the glass of water that sat there and listen as his father practically snorted in laughter.

"You're in university," he said drawing the last word out as if telling it to a small child who was attempting to spell the word. "They are all older than you are; a lot more mature that's for sure."

"That's what you think," he murmured into his glass before setting it back on the side.

"Don't talk to me like that Meredith," the old man said. He opened his mouth to say something else but was called from the room by someone else. It was at this point that he really took in his location, he was in a hospital bed, heart rate monitor attached and he shared a look with the patient in the next bed.

"Is he always like that," the other man asked with a sympathetic nod in the direction his father had gone.

"Pretty much," he said getting comfortable. "What time's dinner?"

"Dinner list should be along in about an hour," he offered with a smile.

"Do we get seconds?" he asked turning to look at him again. "I didn't get to eat my lunch after the other students put lemon in it."

"If you're nice to the food lady you might. I tried it once, didn't get a second meal, just extra pudding."

"That's fine with me," he said with a grin and the other man gave a chuckle as his father stepped back into the room. He dropped a pile of clothes on the food of Rodney's bed and turned hastily away.

"Get dressed," he said as he walked off. "We're going home."

"Maybe next time," the man in the next bed said as Rodney slide from the bed.

"Yeah," he said. "I don't get seconds at home."

~~**~~**~~

**Present - Age 38**

Everywhere he looked he could see it, it was disgusting. People seemed to be pairing up left, right and centre. Since the ceremony for Teyla’s long lost people on the main land a few weeks back, he’d seen Major Lorne with her more times than he’d been on missions.

Every lunch time now he was sure he’d see Sheppard making his way to Elizabeth’s office or the pair of them heading for the mess. He’d even once been fortunate enough to see them sitting together in a corner a little closer than he would have expected. Then there was Ronon and that assistant from Earth, Nora something, along with Radek and a nurse and Carson and one of the science team. It was not a pretty sight.

He picked up his lunch, turning away from the sight of Teyla and Lorne exchanging a laugh and headed back to the door. He paused; the open doorway was the perfect portal to the long stretch of corridor. About halfway down he could make out the form of the large Ronon leaning against the wall. Rodney shook his head and stepped out into the corridor only to see Nora stop in front of the Satedan and stretch up on her toes to kiss him.

"Vomit central," he muttered and turned down one of the forked passages. He made it half way down before he stopped, looked down at the items he carried and turned back towards the mess. He could get Katie something to eat, she would be working late with the new plants that had been brought back yesterday from M9S-784, the locals could swear they had some medicinal purpose.

Back in the mess, he purposely ignored Teyla and Lorne but couldn’t help glancing around. John and Elizabeth were back in their corner and she was leaning in close looking at something that was blocked by their backs. Ronon and Nora where sat on the opposite side of the table from them and as he watched, Nora reached up with a piece of her sandwich she obviously didn’t like and Ronon engulfed it with his lips.

"Oh come on," he said disgustedly. He grabbed another sandwich and piece of fruit and turned to leave again.

It was everywhere, they were meant to be a science team, not a pair up and get married team. Explore the galaxy, not the woman sitting closest to you. Not that that thought didn’t sound appealing or anything.

He stomped out of the room and back down the corridor. He had to juggle the items in his arms before he could activate the transport and eventually made his way to the arboretum.

"Rodney?" Katie questioned as he stepped into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I, erm," he paused suddenly feeling stupid and at the same time wanting to sit close to her like John did with Elizabeth. "I brought lunch," he said hastily remembering the things in his arms as if someone had suddenly smacked him around the head and shoved a sign in front of his face.

"Aww, that’s sweet of you," she cooed. "But I don’t even have time to stop and eat."

"Sure you do," he said moving to the desk and haphazardly dropping everything on top of her computer screen. "Sorry," he said before moving one of the packets. "Anyway, you just work, stop for a bite, have a little bit of conversation then back to work for a few minutes. I do it all the time."

"Alright," she said picking up one of the sandwich packs and pulling it open. "What brought this on?" she asked indicating his sudden need to provide lunch.

"Nothing," he said too quickly and made her raise her eyebrows at him. "I was just in the mess getting lunch and remembered you’d be stuck here today with this," he waved his arm around at the scattered vegetation in the room. "Figured you wouldn’t get a break to go get some food. How’s it going?"

"Slowly," she said sounding a little too frustrated. It made him a little angry and his brain suddenly started to think of ways to make her job easier. Stupid thing, such as stopping the teams from bringing back more plants and vegetables or setting fire to the lab. "I’ve catalogued them all, but some of them are just unusual."

She started explaining about some of the metabolic changes she’d witnessed since the plants had arrived and Rodney tuned out. It wasn’t like him to let people talk, usually if someone started to rattle on about something as dull as this he would have stopped them, with a non to polite comment.

But Katie was different, there was something in just letting her talk that made him loose track of what was, and what wasn’t, a useful or interesting topic.

Without meaning to, he thought of all the things he’d seen today, couples kissing, sitting close, sharing food and instead of seeing who had really done it, he put himself and Katie Brown in their place.

Watching her slip a piece of unwanted cucumber from her sandwich he pictured her feeding it to him. Saw her sitting at his side, her back curved in his direction, shoulder brushing against his. He couldn’t stop it, the images just kept coming, moment after moment as she carried on talking about the plants, something about them changing colour.

"Rodney? Are you..."

"Will you marry me?" He froze, he hadn’t meant to say it, he wasn’t even sure he’d meant it. The piece of sandwich she was holding flopped to the desk as she stared open mouthed at him.

His mind raced, he couldn’t take it back now, could he? Needing a way out, he quickly got to his feet and darted out of the room before she could say yes or no. Why had he even opened his mouth, he didn’t even consciously consider that they could get married; they’d only been dating for a few months. Okay, almost a year now, but that wasn’t the point.

He wondered for a few minutes, ignoring the beep of his radio in his ear. When he spotted John heading towards him down the corridor he thought to take a different route but wasn’t quick enough in turning away.

"What’s with you?" Sheppard asked him stopping a few paces ahead. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost and Katie Brown has been trying to get you on the radio for almost five minutes."

"I asked her to marry me," he said once again without meaning to even open his mouth, he had to stop doing this.

"You did what?"

"I asked her to marry me. I wasn’t even listening to her talk about some plant and it just came out when she said my name. I asked her to marry me."

He looked wildly around the corridor for an escape but found he was blocked with John in front of him and there were no turnings from where he stood. Before he could realise he could double back on himself John had grabbed his arm and pulled him into a quiet and empty room.

"I asked her to marry me," he said again, then repeated it just once more to make sure he had actually done what he was saying.

"I asked Elizabeth to marry me," John said as he repeated the line again, "she turned me down."

"Really?" he asked suddenly hearing the words John spoke.

"No," he said with a smirk. "But it got your attention."

"Don’t do that, I’m really freaking out here."

"I can see that," John said. Rodney went back to repeating his line for a moment. "Did you mean it?"

"Of course I didn’t mean to say it, I think I would have chosen my timing better if I had and I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you about it."

"That wasn’t the question," John pointed out. "Did you mean it?"

He stopped, standing in the middle of the room and looked around. John was leaning against a desk to his right and watching him intently.

"Yes," Rodney said, and gave a nervous laugh. "Yes I did," he said again.

"Then go and talk to Katie."

Rodney turned to look at him like he was crazy; the idea of going to talk to her seemed completely alien. What if she turned him down? What if he walked back into that room and she hit him. He didn’t realise he had started walking again, not pacing the room this time but navigating the corridors back to Katie’s lab.

She was standing with her back to the door when he entered. He had to say her name, though it came out choked as if his throat had closed, to get her attention.

"Yes," she said with a smile on her lips and a worried look in her eyes. "I would love to marry you."

~~**~~**~~

**Future – Age 47**

It had all come up again with the birth of Kyara Dex. She was cute, he’d held her once, a few days after her birth, but hadn’t been able to go back since then. What worried him the most was how Katie had reacted to the child. She had come across Nora and Kyara a few weeks later and since then she’d gone back to crying herself to sleep. What was worse this time around was that he knew why, but she wouldn’t talk to him.

They’d had a slow engagement after he’d blurted out his unintentional proposal, but three years after they had finally got married she had to gone to the doctor. For seven months they had tried for a baby of their own and it had never happened.

John had spent that time making jokes about him with kids. Reminding him of how he’d dealt with the children on one particular planet in their first year in the Pegasus galaxy. He had stopped abruptly the day they had been strolling the corridor and Katie had run past them sobbing.

Rodney had been quick to follow her back to their room, quicker than he actually expected to be and found her curled up on the bed in the fetal position crying loudly.

It hadn’t taken much to coax the information out of her, just him sitting down with her and placing a hand on her should. She’d flipped over and wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his ear.

“I can’t carry children.”

He tightened his grip on Katie, she’d only just fallen asleep, her arms wrapped around him now as they had been back on that day. It had hurt to see her like that, it hurt now to see it again, he knew she had wanted a child even if the possibility was now even less possible.

Maybe they should go back to considering the possibilities she had pushed aside. Adopt a baby from Earth or even from the kid planet. He couldn’t take seeing her like this, she was his wife, and he loved her.

He’d have to keep her from work and talk to her about it tomorrow; this heartbreaking longing couldn’t be healthy for her.


End file.
